Fred Hoiberg isn’t spending much time worrying about Nebraska’s place in the preseason pecking order.
The Huskers were slotted No. 27 in the national rankings after finishing No. 14 in the final AP poll of 2025-26, but Hoiberg said Wednesday that the number beside Nebraska’s name isn’t driving the conversation inside the program. With an exhibition against Kansas State coming Monday night at Grand Island’s BigIron Events Center, he said the focus is still on steady improvement.
“The thing we talked about last year was, we got picked 14th (in the Big Ten),” Hoiberg said. “I prefer that when you’re picked low.
So, I don’t know. I mean, none of that stuff really matters, I guess.
But if you can find some motivation in it, then so be it.”
“It’s not something that we talk about,” he continued. “It’s not something that, you know, if our guys aren’t hungry and motivated enough, we’ve got the wrong group in here. So, we just got to go out there and perform and get better and grow and hopefully play our best game of the three here on Monday night.”
That mindset has carried over into Nebraska’s preseason work, where one of the biggest issues has been rebounding. Hoiberg said that was a concern entering the year, especially after losing three of last season’s top rebounders: Sam Hoiberg, Rienk Mast and Berke Buyuktuncel.
“You just got to win the battle,” he said. “That was a concern coming into the season. When you lose Sam (Hoiberg), our best defensive rebounder; when you lose Rienk (Mast), our best overall rebounder; when you lose Berke (Buyuktuncel), those were the top three rebounders that we had on our team.”
He pointed directly to the guards as a group that needs to help carry that load.
“Our guards have to be better,” he continued. “Frager improved in a big way.
He had zero rebounds in the opener; he had seven in the first half in the last game. Now, I’d like to see him go get another three or four in the second half, but that’s growth… We’re going to need our guards in a big way.”
Nebraska may get some relief from 6-foot-10 Belmont transfer Sam Orme, though he remains in recovery from a hamstring injury. Hoiberg said Orme is progressing, but the staff has no interest in forcing the issue.
“He’s making progress,” the head coach said. “He was out there for the non-contact portion in the early part of our practice today… He’s been in the weight room a lot, really strengthening his hamstring… We’re not going to force it; we’re not going to push it. We don’t want this to be a lingering issue that sticks around all season long.”
“He’s still very much questionable for the game on Monday,” Hoiberg continued. “But the good thing is, he is making progress, and the activity that he is doing, he does not have a lot of extra soreness right now.
He’s still feeling it a little bit. So, again, we’re going to be extra cautious with this thing.”
Even with Orme sidelined, Nebraska has gotten contributions from others. Nebraska native Cale Jacobsen has taken on a larger role, averaging 28.5 minutes per game across the first two exhibitions. The Ashland-Greenwood product has put up 25 points, nine rebounds and two assists.
Hoiberg also expects more from freshman guard Jacob Lanier, sophomore big man Leo Curtis and South Dakota State transfer Damon Wilkinson as the Huskers continue sorting out the rotation. He said the starters will see more run Monday, but Nebraska still plans to use a deep group against the Wildcats.
“I’ll play the starters more minutes,” he said. “I’ll still get a lot of guys out there; I still have some decisions to make when it comes to November 2 with the opener and a team that hit 19 threes in their exhibition win in a game they played last week.”
“We’ll still give a lot of guys opportunities,” he continued. “We shrunk it from what 14 to 12, I think, in the last one, and we’ll see how this one goes, but I will play the starters more minutes.”
The exhibition slate hasn’t produced wins, with Nebraska starting 0-2, but Hoiberg sees value in the challenge. He said the Huskers intentionally scheduled opponents that would test them early, and those games have already revealed areas that need work.
“It’s been two really good games for our team to experience a different style than anything we’ve seen so far in our preparation and our practices,” Hoiberg said. “It’s really helping us in a lot of ways when you see exactly what you need to work on moving forward.”
“If we can clean up the sloppiness and the turnovers and if we can finish off possessions on the glass, then we’re going to have a good year,” he continued. “If not, we’re going to be very pedestrian.”
Nebraska and Kansas State will tip off at 6:30 p.m. CDT Monday at Eihusen Arena inside the BigIron Events Center. It will be the first meeting between the teams since Nebraska edged the Wildcats 86-85 in Kansas City early in last season’s regular season.
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